Shropshire job queues get shorter as unemployment rises in UK
Job queues have got shorter in Shropshire, despite figures revealing the national unemployment total has increased by 70,000 to 2.56 million, with rises among young people and those out of work for more than a year.
The total is the worst since last summer, giving the UK a jobless rate of 7.9 per cent. Across the West Midlands – including the county – unemployment has risen by 6,000 to 252,000, and the jobless rate is now 9.1 per cent.
The number of people in work fell by 2,000 in the latest quarter to February, to just under 30 million – the first time the figure has dipped since autumn 2011.
But today's data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a 7,000 fall in Jobseeker's Allowance claimants last month, to 1.53 million. The numbers differ because not everyone classed as unemployed is eligible to claim the benefit.
In Shropshire, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 174 in March to 4,825, or 2.5 per cent of the county's working population.
In the Telford & Wrekin local authority area, which is counted separately, the claimant count was down by just 83 to 4,595 in March – 4.2 per cent of the district's working population.
Meanwhile a new report by Unison claims almost 450 jobs have been lost from councils and police forces across the UK every day since the coalition came to power, according to a new report.
